Cole Baxter was hoping for another gold medal at Saturday's finals of the WPIAL Class AAA wrestling tournament. He had to settle for a less precious metal.

Baxter, a junior from Butler Area High School, received a silver medal in the 171-pound weight class after a 3-2 loss to Chartiers Valley's Tyler Wilps in the final. It was the first loss of the season for Baxter (36-1), who won the 145-pound weight class last year.

"Cole is really disappointed in himself," Butler coach Scott Stoner said. "He just didn't wrestle a smart match."

Baxter was aggressive in the opening period of the match, but became frustrated when Wilps fought off two good shots.

"Tyler did a great job of countering Cole's shots," Stoner said. "Cole just couldn't finish those shots. That got him frustrated and impatient. Cole then tried a couple really bad shots, which is very unusual for him."

Wilps countered one of Baxter's "bad shots" with a takedown 19 seconds into the third period to take a 3-1 advantage. Baxter escaped with 22 seconds left, but failed to score a takedown before the clock ran out.

Baxter begins his second appearance in the PIAA championships this afternoon, at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa., with hopes of improving on last year's fifth-place finish.

"Cole is one of five returning PIAA place-winners in his weight class," Stoner said. "If Cole wins in the first round, his quarterfinal opponent will most likely be Central Dauphin's Kenny Courts."

Courts placed second at 160 at last year's PIAA championships.

Fox Chapel coach Ron Frank was thrilled to see senior Carson Brooks earn a PIAA berth. Brooks placed third at 140.

"Carson suffered a severe ankle sprain during the Allegheny County Tournament," Frank said. "He rehabbed it, then came back and got a high ankle sprain. It was a tough end of January and start of February for Carson. At one point, I doubted whether he would be able to wrestle in the postseason.

"Fortunately, Carson was able to rehab well enough to win his third Section 3 title, and now he's qualified for the [PIAA] tournament. He's had a great year. Now he's got a chance to cap his career with a medal at Hershey."

Winning a medal will not be easy. Brooks (39-4) is in a weight class that features six returning PIAA place-winners. In fact, Brooks is matched up with one in the first round. He faces Easton's Mitchell Minotti, who finished seventh at 119 last year.

Brooks rallied from an 8-4 deficit with a third-period pin to defeat Franklin Regional's Ben Johnson in the third-place consolation.

"Carson used a roll that he always uses in practice and put Johnson on his back," Frank said. "It was so exciting to see Carson qualify in such a dramatic way."

Baxter and Brooks were two of only four PIAA qualifiers from Section 3-AAA.

"I don't ever remember having only four qualifiers from Section 3," Frank said. "It was a big shock to see the section do so poorly. There were at least four or five others who I thought would qualify."

The other two qualifiers are North Allegheny's Andy Candiello and North Hills' Ben Amrhein.

Candiello (33-7), a 145-pound senior, placed third after losing in the quarterfinals to Connellsville's Jesse Swink. Candiello won four matches in the consolation bracket, including a 4-2 victory avenging his loss to Swink in the consolation final.

Amrhein (38-6), a 160-pound senior, finished third after losing in the semifinals to Bethel Park's Nick Bonaccorsi, the eventual runner-up. Amrhein beat North Allegheny's Jarred Lux, 7-3, in the consolation for third place.

Shady Side Academy will take five wrestlers to Hershey for the second consecutive year.

The Indians had five finalists at the Class AA Southwest Regional, which took place at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, Pa., and three won gold medals. Junior Geoff Alexander and senior Matthew Cunningham claimed their third consecutive titles, while junior Phillip Elias won his first.

Alexander (31-3) won at 119 with a 6-4 decision against Westmont Hilltop's Tanner Hough. Cunningham (44-4) won at 171 with a 7-2 victory against Burrell's Dakota DesLauriers. Elias (29-6) beat Westmont Hilltop's Josh Polacek in the 112-pound final.

Anthony Elias and Frank Martellotti placed second for the Indians. Elias (36-9) was pinned in the 125-pound final by Burrell's Dave Makara. Martellotti (45-2) lost, 1-0, in the 130-pound final to Tyrone's Ronnie Garbinsky.

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